It's time to defend Tomas Soucek writes Claret and Hugh Facebook follower John Peter Weir. This is a player who gets a huge deal of unjustified criticism. But before I start, we should all remember that all players have little control of where they are positioned and what role they play in a game. That is down to the manager. It's time to defend Tomas Soucek

So, in this game, only a fifth of the attacking play went through the centre where Soucek has been stationed. It would therefore be of little surprise if his involvement was lower than others. Evidently, the Hammers managed 551 passes in this game (who-scored.com). I went back and re-watched the game and focussed my attention on Tomas. He had 31 touches overall and lost the ball three times. In the first half they included four important defensive headers in our penalty area and two went to a team-mate. He only had one of these in the second half which shows the diminishing aerial threat from Forest during the game. At the other end he had 4 headers - one collected by the keeper at his near post, one hit the bar, one was touched over and, of course, one goal. Overall then he had 31 touches out of 551 when only a fifth of the play coming his way which seems OK and only three 3 lost balls - not bad. He continually made himself available and faced down opposition players into passing backwards. If I have an area of doubt it it that he only successfully won the ball (retaining possession) once. On balance, I think he still performs an important and useful role in the team - whatever others perceptions may be.